Tveir tréfætur

The physical aids of a one-legged male farmhand, a cane, a crutch and two wooden legs, are preserved at the local history museum Hnjótur in the West Fjords of Iceland, along with a number of his everyday possessions.
The older wooden leg was made by a farmer in the year 1910 and the younger by a machinist in 1935. There is no proof that either of the builders had any special knowledge or a model to follow but comparison with similar wooden legs in use on the Continent indicates some foreign influence on the construction of the Icelandic wooden legs. Each leg was used for at least 25 years, one after the other. The older leg shows signs of much wear but the younger one is in good shape. Most important for the life-time of an artificial leg is that the body weight should rest in balance over the centre of the wooden peg and that the weight does not fall outside the longitudinal axis of the peg.
The medical history of the patient concerned was investigated, and compared with the tale which circulated locally, which claimed that wearing fisherman's boots which were too tight had caused the injury to his foot. The medical records of the hospital reveal, however, that the ankle was infected with tuberculosis. An attempt was made to treat this by resecting the ankle joint, which is likely to have been only the second time that such an operation was performed in Iceland. Gangrene developed in the surgical area and the leg had to be amputated.; Á byggðasafninu Hnjóti við Patreksfjörð eru varðveitt hjálpartæki fótvana húskarls: stafur, hækja og tveir tréfætur, ásamt ýmsum munum hans til daglegra nota. Eldri tréfóturinn var smíðaður af bónda árið 1910 og sá yngri af vélstjóra árið 1935. Ekki er vitað til þess að smiðirnir hafi haft sérþekkingu eða fyrirmynd að smíðinni, en með athugun á útbreiðslu sambærilegra tréfóta á meginlandinu er komist að þeirri niðurstöðu að erlend áhrif á byggingu hinna íslensku tréfóta séu líkleg. Hvor fótur var notaður í að minnsta kosti 25 ár. Yngri fóturinn er mjög heillegur. Eldri fóturinn er illa farinn og er athyglisverður fyrir það hversu slitbreytingarnar eru langt gengnar. Þegar byggingarlag beggja tréfótanna var kannað sást hversu miklu skiptir um endingu að líkamsþyngd falli eftir lengdarási tréleggsins og haldi fætinum þannig í jafnvægi en ekki utan lengdarássins, sem leiðir til skakks álags með auknu sliti og skemmri endingu. Greint er frá sjúkrasögu mannsins eins og hún er sögð í heimabyggð þar sem talið var að þröng sjóstígvél hafi valdið fótarmeini hans. Í sjúkraskrá sjúkrahússins kemur hins vegar í ljós að ökklaliður var sýktur af berklum. Reynt var að eyða liðsýkingunni með liðnámi öklaliðs sem var líklega önnur aðgerð þeirrar tegundar á Íslandi. Drep kom í aðgerðarsvæðið svo gera varð stúfhögg um fótlegg neðan hnés.

The physical aids of a one-legged male farmhand, a cane, a crutch and two wooden legs, are preserved at the local history museum Hnjótur in the West Fjords of Iceland, along with a number of his everyday possessions.
The older wooden leg was made by a farmer in the year 1910 and the younger by a machinist in 1935. There is no proof that either of the builders had any special knowledge or a model to follow but comparison with similar wooden legs in use on the Continent indicates some foreign influence on the construction of the Icelandic wooden legs. Each leg was used for at least 25 years, one after the other. The older leg shows signs of much wear but the younger one is in good shape. Most important for the life-time of an artificial leg is that the body weight should rest in balance over the centre of the wooden peg and that the weight does not fall outside the longitudinal axis of the peg.
The medical history of the patient concerned was investigated, and compared with the tale which circulated locally, which claimed that wearing fisherman's boots which were too tight had caused the injury to his foot. The medical records of the hospital reveal, however, that the ankle was infected with tuberculosis. An attempt was made to treat this by resecting the ankle joint, which is likely to have been only the second time that such an operation was performed in Iceland. Gangrene developed in the surgical area and the leg had to be amputated.